MOST ATENEANS are satisfied with their curriculum, some find the faculty evaluations inconvenient, and while others find the Ateneo Placement Office effective in finding companies to participate in the job fair, they feel that it benefits School of Management students more.
These were the findings of the Sanggunian Grand Consultation held during the first semester.
The results were presented to the Sanggunian House of Representatives on January 7 at the Leong Hall Auditorium.
For development
During the first semester, sophomore to senior students answered a survey which asked whether they were satisfied about certain aspects of their student life. The issues ranged from course curriculum to administrative services, among other things.
Vice President Jojo Dumrique said that the Grand Consultation is meant to gather input for the continued development of the university.
Secretary-General Maan de los Santos also said that “[The] Grand Consultation is important because it shows what the students are going through. Since we are the stakeholders in this school, the administration wants [to] get our feedback, if the curriculum and services they are offering are okay for us.”
Sanggu President Rob Roque also related the results of the Grand Consultation to the faculty on the Faculty Day held on November 19, 2010.
Wide-scale
Senior School of Science and Engineering Central Board Representative Mara Duterte said that the Grand Consultations’ findings are sufficient. “Sufficient enough in a way that we can already map out what we need to work on as the representatives of the students,” she said.
Block BB Sophomore Representative Moses Mijkhael Albiento said that the results of the Grand Consultation were reflective of what the student body feels.
“So far, in my two years’ stay in Ateneo, I haven’t seen a wide-scale evaluation such as this that involves almost all the aspects of my student life,” he said.
“Almost lahat talaga, pasok. (Almost all aspects of my student life were included in the Grand Consultation.)”
Not too neutral
However, Duterte said that there is a need for further consultation with the students, which can be done through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs).
“A lot of questions in the Grand Consultation were answerable with ‘yes, neutral, no.’ When students say that services of an office are not sufficient or they are neutral about these things, we have to ask them why,” she added.
The FGDs will also help the Sanggunian get the specific concerns of the students. “It will help us understand where the students are coming from [based on the results of the Grand Consultation],” Duterte said.
Albiento said that the ‘neutral’ option should be removed from the surveys. He also suggested that they replace the ranking system with a scale of 1 to 5, or with the Ateneo grading system.
Another Grand Consultation?
Block CC Sophomore Representative Jenica Edlyn Ti said that the Sanggunian should hold another Grand Consultation. “It is a great way to discuss something and get answers immediately.”
Duterte said that she thinks another Grand Consultation should be held if the next batch of Sanggunian officers will allow for it.
“The [Grand Consultation] helps us find out what the students want the Sanggunian to do; after all, the students hold the highest power in the Sanggunian,” she added.
However, Albiento said that a Grand Consultation should be made after modifications and changes have been made to it. “Hindi pa rin naman nakikita ng mga Atenista ang mga pagbabagong nangyayari; malamang yun na ring mga lumabas na sagot ang lalabas (the Ateneans still haven’t seen the changes take effect; most likely, they will answer the same things they answered in the Grand Consultation).”
He added the Grand Consultation will be more effective if it were to be done at the end of every school year, “[just so] all or most of the changes that the students wanted to see will be taken into consideration by the departments and offices … [so that] next school year, we [the students] can expect changes to occur.”
